UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads
Labels Zuck’s ad library ‘a window into criminality’ and the Social Network as ‘happy to turn a blind eye’
The head of the UK’s Gambling Commission has accused social media giant Meta of lying about its ability to proactively detect operators of illegal casinos advertising on its services.
Speaking at gaming conference ICE 2026 in Barcelona yesterday, the commission’s executive director Tim Miller discussed the regulator’s attempts to understand illegal gambling, which is of interest as his agency’s purpose is to oversee licensed gambling and reduce any harms it causes.
That job is made harder if illegal gambling operations offer an alternative. Miller therefore called for licensed operators to ensure “clear blue water” between their services and others.
He said the waters are instead muddy, because regulators around the world “are increasingly identifying suppliers, affiliates, advertisers, tech companies and others that work with licensed operators but who are also providing the same services to the illegal market.”
He then took aim at tech companies which help to facilitate illegal gambling.
“If you are using the same suppliers, such as web hosting companies, as the majority of illegal websites, then you are helping to build the illegal market,” he said. “And, if you are marketing your products through platforms, including social media, that also promote illegal online casinos, then you are helping to build the illegal market.”
Meta’s ‘simply false’ stance
He then segued to a discussion of Meta, which he said often serves ads for illegal gambling operations – some of which use keywords to describe services that do not participate in the UK’s “Gamstop” service that allows people to self-exclude from use of gambling sites.
If we can find them, then so can Meta: They simply choose not to look
“Companies like Meta will tell you that they don’t tolerate the advertising of illegal sites and will remove them if they are notified about them,” he said. “But that approach suggests that they don’t know about those ads unless alerted. That is simply false.”
His support for that assertion is that Meta provides a searchable library of its advertisers.
“You or I can conduct such a search for ‘not on Gamstop’ sites and see for ourselves how many are currently paying Meta to advertise on their platforms,” he said, and described the results of such searches as “effectively a window into criminality.”
“If we can find them, then so can Meta: They simply choose not to look,” he added.
Miller said the Gambling Commission has tried to engage Meta, but “aside from a few warm words we have got very limited progress.”
“Their suggestion was that we should deploy AI tools ourselves to monitor and find these ads and then report them,” he said, before declaring himself “very surprised if Meta, as one of the world’s largest tech companies is incapable of proactively using their own keyword facility to prevent the advertising of illegal gambling.”
“It could leave you with the impression they are quite happy to turn a blind eye and continue taking money from criminals and scammers until someone shouts about it.”
Miller thinks Meta must decide whose side it is on.
“The consumer and users of your platforms, many of whom are seeking to escape gambling harm? Or the criminals and con artists who are using your platforms to prey on vulnerable people right in front of your eyes and whose clutches you risk pushing those vulnerable people into?” Miller ended his speech with the observation that no actor can defeat illegal gambling by working alone.
“We need to work together to ensure that there is no room for suppliers and other companies who want to benefit from the legitimate industry whilst also actively undermining our collective efforts to tackle illegal gambling operators,” he said. “Government, regulators and industry should no longer tolerate anyone having a foot in both camps. It’s time to work together. It’s time to force them to pick a side.”
A reminder: Meta’s structure means its CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a majority of voting rights, meaning shareholders cannot vote him out of his job. ®